Fact Sheet: Providing Help to Heal Americans Struggling with Addiction

Today's Action

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush announced a
three-year, $600 million federal treatment initiative to help
addicted Americans find needed treatment from the most effective
programs, including faith-based and community-based
organizations. This new investment will make treatment available
to help 300,000 more Americans combat their addiction over the
next three years, by providing vouchers to individuals identified
in their communities as needing assistance. The White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy today released additional
details of the President's plan.

Background on the President's Treatment Initiative

Last year, approximately 100,000 men and women seeking treatment
for drug addiction did not receive the help they needed. The
President's plan is designed to complement existing programs and
ensure that Americans struggling with addiction have access to a
comprehensive continuum of effective treatment and support
service options, including faith-based and community-based
programs, and ensure that these options are more readily
available.

The President's treatment initiative is designed to help any
individual with a drug or alcohol problem who: 1) is without
private treatment coverage; and 2) has been assessed as needing
assistance by a healthcare professional in an emergency room,
health clinic, school or similar setting. This includes any
Medicaid beneficiary who has been excluded from receiving
treatment in residential treatment settings.

The program will ensure access and accountability for alcohol and
drug abuse services by allowing individuals greater choices among
appropriate programs. It would enable eligible individuals to
use federal alcohol and drug abuse vouchers to obtain help at all
effective treatment organizations, including faith-based and
community-based organizations. This would expand treatment
utilization and accountability, thereby broadening and
strengthening the current system.

The program would provide a way for the Federal Government to
monitor state implementation of the program to prevent fraud and
abuse; ensure quality of care; and evaluate the effectiveness of
the program. It would also enable nonprofit and proprietary
organizations to have a greater opportunity to participate
through full and open competition.

Under the President's plan, people who are seeking drug and
alcohol treatment and support services will be assessed,
presented with a voucher to pay for a range of appropriate care
and services, and then referred to a variety of providers who
offer that care.

States will work with a consortium of public and private entities
to jointly administer the program, including health care
providers, faith-based and community-based organizations,
workplaces, and schools to help alcohol and drug abusers receive
vouchers for the treatment and support services that are best
suited to their individual needs. States would be required to
monitor the outcomes and costs of the voucher program and to make
adjustments based on the extent to which improved client outcomes
are or are not achieved in a cost-effective manner.

For many Americans seeking treatment, the transforming power of
faith will now be available to heal those suffering from alcohol
and drug abuse. This new program will serve as a model for
states in administering other Department of Health and Human
Services alcohol and drug abuse grant funding permissible under
proposed Charitable Choice regulations.